The Role of Dominant and Recessive Alleles: Understanding Genetic Dominance and Allele Masking in Inheritance Patterns

An allele that is masked when a dominant allele is present

In genetics, an allele refers to one of the alternative forms of a gene that can exist at a specific location on a chromosome

In genetics, an allele refers to one of the alternative forms of a gene that can exist at a specific location on a chromosome. Each individual inherits two alleles for each gene, one from their mother and one from their father. The interaction between these alleles determines the expression of a particular trait.

When one allele is dominant over another, it means that the dominant allele will be expressed and mask the effects of the recessive allele when both alleles are present in an individual. In this case, the recessive allele is masked and does not have a visible impact on the organism’s phenotype or physical appearance.

For example, let’s consider eye color. There are two alleles that influence eye color: the brown allele (B) and the blue allele (b). The brown allele is dominant, and the blue allele is recessive. If an individual has one brown allele (B) and one blue allele (b), their eye color will be brown because the dominant brown allele masks the recessive blue allele.

However, individuals with two blue alleles (bb) will have blue eyes since there is no dominant brown allele to mask the effects of the recessive blue allele.

It is important to note that even though the recessive allele may be masked in the phenotype, it can still be carried and passed on to future generations. This is why individuals with a dominant allele can still be carriers of the recessive allele and pass it on to their offspring without expressing it themselves.

Understanding genetic dominance and the masking of alleles is fundamental in studying inheritance patterns and predicting the possibility of certain traits in offspring.

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